(a) Technical Field
The present invention relates to a shield connector, more particularly to a shield connector that can improve operability of a connector position assurance when it is combined, and ensure contact point stability and reliability between shield conductive parts, and thus allows for simplification of shield parts and improvement of convenience in assembly.
(b) Description of the Related Art
In general, a connector is a connection part used for electrically connecting a circuit with another circuit, and various connectors are used in vehicles in order to connect cables or wires.
Recently, the number of electric devices mounted on vehicles has increased for the convenience of users, and the number of necessary cables or wires has increased accordingly, so that many connectors for connecting them are used.
Connectors are generally composed of female and male connectors that can be fitted to each other. Also, a space where a terminal can be received is defined in the housing of each connector, and a plurality of terminals are usually received in one connector.
The terminal of the male connector can be inserted in the terminal of the female connector, and when the connectors are combined, they are electrically connected by the insertion of the terminal of the male connector in the terminal of the female connector.
Since the connectors are parts for electric connection, complete electrical and mechanical connection is necessary when they are combined.
Accordingly, various members are used for complete connection of the connectors, and more complete connection of connectors is required, when whether connection of connectors is ensured has an important influence on vehicle safety, such as in a wiring system for a vehicle.
To this end, as a technology for preventing a risk of disconnection of a connector due to a wire harness, a connector position assurance (CPA) is applied.
The connector position assurance is provided for preventing unlocking between connectors, that is, preventing a locking lever from being unlocked from a connector, where the locking lever is a part that prevents connectors at both sides from separating from each other.
The locking lever is formed at one of the connectors (at the housing of the connector) so that the locking lever is locked to a coupling portion of the other connector, when both connectors are combined.
The connector position assurance supports the locking lever to prevent separation of the connectors from being unlocked, and the locking lever can be unlocked only after the connector position assurance is unlocked.
According to the connector position assurance, it is possible to achieve complete combination of connectors and prevent separation of connectors due to unlocking of a locking lever.
A connector with a connector position assurance has been disclosed in Korean Patent Registration No. 10-0818629 (Mar. 26, 2008), and the connector position assurance of general connectors is formed as a separate part and coupled to a connector housing.
In particular, a connector position assurance is coupled to the housing of a connector (female connector as provided therein), and accordingly, by pushing the connector position assurance under a locking lever locked to the coupling portion of the other connector after the connectors are combined, the locking lever is deformed by an external force and the connector position assurance supports the locking lever to prevent separation of the connectors, thereby preventing sagging and unlocking of the locking lever.
However, the connector position assurance can move forward/backward in the housing of a connector, before both connectors are combined, so that the user has to pull backward the connector position assurance before combining the connectors and then push back the connector position assurance after combining the connectors.
If the connector position assurance has been pushed forward to the lock position before it is coupled to the other connector, the connection position assurance moved forward may be locked to the corresponding connector, so it is difficult to pull out the connector position assurance.
Further, in order to combine both connectors with the connector position assurance pushed forward, not pulled back, the locking lever is already at the lock position by the connector position assurance, so it may be difficult to combine the other connector.
Accordingly, there is a need of a structure that allows for reduced complexity of operation and simple combination when connectors are combined.
On the other hand, shield wires and shield connectors are used to reduce noise in electric signals. In particular, a shield and ground path are formed from a wire shield to the grounding terminal of a car body or electric devices by the internal parts of connectors, when the connectors are combined.
However, there are many complicated conductive parts for forming electric shield and grounding paths, it is difficult to ensure price competitiveness, and contact point stability and reliability between conductive parts, and bolting is required to form and maintain contact points between separate conductive parts, so assembly is not convenient.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.